When Warner Bros. upcoming Batman vs. Superman film was originally announced at the San Diego Comic-Con, some fans felt skeptical that the inclusion of the Dark Knight would overshadow Superman in what was being hailed as a sequel to 2013's Man of Steel. In a new interview with Forbes, director Zack Snyder lays out the reasons why they arrived at Batman for the upcoming sequel, and how he was almost just a cameo in the second Man of Steel movie.

"After Man of Steel finished and we started talking about what would be in the next movie, I started subtly mentioning that it would be cool if he faced Batman. In the first meeting, it was like, “Maybe Batman?” Maybe at the end of the second movie, some Kryptonite gets delivered to Bruce Wayne’s house or something. Like in a cryptic way, that’s the first time we see him. But then, once you say it out loud, right? You’re in a story meeting talking about, like, who should [Superman] fight if he fought this giant alien threat Zod who was basically his equal physically, from his planet, fighting on our turf… You know, who to fight next? The problem is, once you say it out loud, then it’s kind of hard to go back, right? Once you say, “What about Batman?” then you realize, “Okay, that’s a cool idea. What else?” I mean, what do you say after that?"

Since pre-production began on the film, fans have been clamoring for the first look at star Ben Affleck in the brand new bat-suit, and Snyder does his best to fan the flames of their desires but also says he's not sure when we'll be getting our first look at the new outfit.

"The thing also that’s really fascinating for me is that, even just in the tests we’ve been doing, the costumes, right? You basically have Batman and Superman — and this is without Ben [Affleck] and Henry [Cavill] in the costumes, but just like the stand-ins, just testing to see what the costumes look like. And you have them standing there and they’re standing in the same shot — and then we have Wonder Woman, you know, all three of them in the same shot. Even just for a test, you really have to go, “Wow, that’s crazy!” Not only is it the first time that I’m seeing them, it’s the first time they’ve ever existed together on screen in a movie. And that’s kind of a huge deal…..Unfortunately, I don’t even know the timeline… Because the movie takes place so far from now, it’s hard to know exactly. That all gets tied to marketing and strategies for the movie. It’s not just a free-for-all, which I’d love it to be. Because I take a picture of the suit with my camera– I’m actually staring at one right now in my office. And it’s just massive on my wall in my office and it’s epic, let me tell you! And I’m like, “God, I want to send this to the Internet immediately.” But I know I’m not allowed to!"

Written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer, Batman vs. Superman will star Henry Cavill as Clark Kent going up against Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman with Gal Gadot set to appear as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. Man of Steel stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane will also reprise their roles along with series newcomers ​Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, Tao Okamoto, with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and Jeremy Irons as Alfred. The Zack Snyder-directed film is set to open on May 6, 2016.​